


I'm Not Scared

by buckybarfs



Series: Words [4]
Category: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bruce Banner Feels, Bruce Banner Has Issues, F/F, F/M, I really had to mess up history for this, I've never written Bruce before, Multi, OC smokes pot, OFC is a struggling college student, OFC is an alien, Older Man/Younger Woman, Other, Protective Bruce Banner, Science Bros, She's young but she's not, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, lowkey Bruce does too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-12 20:05:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10498524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckybarfs/pseuds/buckybarfs
Summary: “I won't hurt you, I promise.” Bruce blurted after bumping into a shocked looking girl.“I'm not scared.” Was her sweet reply. Three simple words that had kept Bruce sane.





	1. A New Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! I've never written for Bruce before or even considered it but this came to me and I had to write it.

_“I won't hurt you, I promise.” Bruce blurted after bumping into a shocked looking girl._  
_“I'm not scared.” Was her sweet reply. Three simple words that had kept Bruce sane._

* * *

_“Mommy!” Shouted the crying little girl as she spun in circles trying to find her lost parents. Her world was falling apart and all she wanted was her mother._

_“Come now, my dear Melpomene we must be quiet.” Whispered her mother who appeared from a shadow of a tree. After scooping her sobbing angel haired child up she disappeared back into the shadows and appeared in a clearing of the same forest. There were but two hundred people in the clearing, the only survivors out of the hundreds of thousands of their kind._

_“Eileithyia! We must go now.” Shouted the child's father as he held his hands out to take the child from her mother._

_A scream that seemed to come from the ground itself tore through the forest, the sound of the earth splitting approached them and within seconds the small group of survivors could see the abyss forming, coming straight for them._

_“Heimdall!” Cried a woman holding a small child._

_“He won't open the bridge if it isn't safe.” Eileithyia shouted as she peered over her shoulder at the fissure which had oddly shaped black skeletal beings crawling from its depths. “Someone needs to stop them.”_

_“MOMMY!” The little girl howled as the fair skinned woman she called her mother exploded into shreds, a large being towered in front of the group now. It was transparent, made of nothing but shadowed clouds._

_“Eileithyia!” Cried the gray haired father as it became apparent what his love would be doing._

_“I love you.” A voice breathed into the minds of the daughter and father before the being jumped into the abyss, it’s large clawed hands reaching out and grabbing all of the creatures that lingered too closely to the group of survivors._

_In a sudden burst of light the group was taken from their world, as they appeared safely in Asgard the sound of their planet collapsing could be heard ringing throughout the realms, and thus began their new lives._

* * *

“Who's the new assistant?” Bruce asked as he strolled into the lab he and Tony shared. He had walked past the new girl on his way to the private lab they shared. She had been swiping her keycard and cursing under her breath about not being in the system yet.

“Dunno, some kid I gave a scholarship to that is now working for me.” Replied the billionaire without even looking up.

“She didn't look like a kid.” The scientist mumbled as he set down the sandwiches he had been sent down to retrieve.

“You got the hots for the new girl?” Tony asked, suddenly seeming interested as he sat up and turned to actually look at his friend.

Bruce's cheeks flushed at Tony's crude comment. “I was just being observant.”

* * *

Melany followed her lab supervisor through the now open door, singing praises and thank you's to him the entire time while he assured that it was okay and he would have her entered into the system.

The golden haired girl nodded so vigorously that her bun almost fell out as he showed her where she would be working. After showing her the lab space they had allotted to her he led her to her desk in a separate room and gave her strict instructions that today was only for her to get settled into her desk she was absolutely under no circumstances to do any lab work whatsoever.

“You okay? You look a little frazzled.” Came a feminine voice from her right.

The girl looked over and was relieved that her eyes were met with the pleasant face of a woman only slightly older than her. “Yes? I’m okay, I think.” She stumbled over her words as she stared blankly at the box of things she had to unload into her desk.

“He gave you the absolutely no actual work on your first day talk?”

“Yeah, it was pretty intense.”

“He's very serious.” Laughed the older woman. “My name is Adrianna, by the way.”

“Melany.”

“Our lunch is in thirty minutes if you want to grab it with me after you finish unpacking?”

“I’d love that.”

* * *

“How was your first day?” Asked Pepper Potts as she neatly sat some papers on her desk.

Today was only the third time Melany had met Pepper Potts, and each time she found herself more nervous than the last. The first time was to interview her for first internship, scholarship, and research grant she had applied for. The second time was at her the acceptance ceremony put on by Stark Industries when Pepper and Tony Stark himself showed up to take a picture with her. Both of them talking about how proud they were of her and knew she had the potential. Up until then she had never personally met Tony Stark and she knew for a fact he wasn't even sure she was a real person. She had caught Pepper walking him through what to say right before the all got on stage. The man having no recollection of reading her thesis or of showing her and a group of fifteen othershis lab. Now she sat in the woman's office being asked if she had a good first day. She felt like a child in the principal's office.

“I'm all settled and everyone has been incredibly nice. It's still just such an honor to actually be here.” She said politely as she crossed her ankles and rested her fidgeting hands on her lap.

“If you need anything at all please don't be afraid to send me an email or call my office, we value your comfort here at Stark Industries.” The CEO said with a pleasant smile.

“Of course, Miss Potts. Again, thank you so much.”

“We’re lucky to have you.”

* * *

That night she returned to the small apartment that she shared with her three housemates. The four of them shared the dingy two bedroom one bath New York apartment. When she went to go into the room that she shared with her roommate/best friend Lillian she groaned in frustration as she spotted the duty belt on the door.

The belt was their equivalent of a sock on the doorknob. It had been left in Lillian's teenage bedroom back home by her boyfriend at the time who was a bright eyed PFC. He had shown up in his cammies as per her request and then promptly left and broken up with her after taking her virginity. He had made the mistake of leaving his belt behind and Lillian had it on good authority that he had been ripped a new asshole the next day at work. Because of that the belt became a symbol in their lives and it signified not to enter unless you wanted to be scarred for life. Which knowing Lillian was always a possibility. Melody was all for freedom to kink but damned if she didn't occasionally worry about her friends sanity.

After the intense first day all she wanted to do was grab a book, relax in the bath and smoke a blunt. But instead she settled for curling up on the broken down couch with a cup of tea supplied to her by their other housemate, Susie.

“They're gonna be a while.” Drawled the girl in her deep Georgia accent as she perched herself on the couch beside Melany.

“I wanna die.” The girl groaned as she buried her face into her knees. “This is already so much more stressful than the unpaid internship I did, and back then I thought I was going to die.”

“Bad first day?”

“You have no idea, first I wasn't in the system because they spelled my name wrong, so I was fifteen minutes late and my boss had to let me in. Then when he was showing me around I bumped into someone carrying a huge beaker of mercury. They almost spilled it everywhere and it would have been all my fault. Then to make matters worse the ladies room was so full and I had to pee so badly that I used the men's room and my boss walked in right as I stepped out of a stall.” Melany explained, her voice rising in octaves until she was close to being hysterical.

“Hey, there there, it's alright. Here come into my room I'll smoke you out.”

“You're a saint.”

Three dabs and four hours later she was slumped on their rickety balcony being shaken awake by a confused looking Lillian.

“Why are you out here it's so dangerous? Come on.” She was annoyed at her best friend for so carelessly risking her life on the rusted metal death trap.

“You had the belt.” Melany mumbled before beginning to babble nonsense as she slumped over once more.

“It's a good thing I work out.” Lillian grumbled as she dragged the girl off of the balcony, once she had the delicate blonde safely inside she picked her up and fireman carried her into their shared room.

* * *

_She remembered very few things of her past, it was the way of their kind. With every rebirth their minds started fresh, their only memory of their first birth. As they grew old the remembered bits and pieces but never entire lives._

_Her mind montaged her memories as she slept._

_She was a child again, but a few hundred years old. She was on Asgard, seeking refuge with the last of her people._

_“Asgard is not suited for people of your kind, it is much too bright with not a shadow in sight.” The Allfather boomed as he addressed the group that has congregated in his great hall. “However, there is a planet that is failing, you could save it, or you could stay here and your kind will perish.”_

_“We accept your terms.” Asklepios stated in his gravelly voice. He was the last remaining elder of the Shadow Faye, and thus he had taken on the role of their king since their displacement._

_“So be it.” The allfather called._  
  
As the terms of their relocation were stated the child found herself falling asleep in her father’s arms. When she awoke they were back in the bifrost and she had an awful feeling in her stomach.

_“My darling daughter,” her father started as he stroked her disheveled curls, “When you awaken next you will not be with me, you will be born to a new family. You will have memories of this life, but you will not be the same.”_

_“Am I starting my new life cycle?” Apprehensively asked the child._

_“In a way. The realm we are traveling to is barren and plagued by death and disease, our kind will save it.”_

* * *

“This story is such bull.” Whined Susie as she flipped through her book. Susie was a history major and was currently taking a class on mythology. At this moment she was reading the story of the Shadow Faye, the story that tangled Greek mythology with Norse mythology and was every mythology and folklore majors Achilles heel.

“Everybody thought Thor was bull until he helped save the world.” Melany offered.

“But this just seems so unfathomable. I mean seriously? 200 creatures repopulated the planet, are the ancestors of all mutants, and are the reason we have soulmates?”

“What’s not to get? They came to earth when their world fell apart and because they aren't susceptible to diseases they survived all the plagues. They could mate with humans because their regular bodies were almost exactly the same, and because of their immune systems their offspring were able to survive the perils of this planet.” Melany explained casually as she scurried around the kitchen in an attempt to throw together a to go cup of coffee.

“But what about the soulmate thing?” Lilian questioned in between handfuls of hot Cheetos.

“Their kind was already created with another half, legends call them ‘The Kind of a Thousand Lives’ because they would live out their human life spans over and over again until they found their soulmate and since their kind had so few they had to begin to branch out thus reproducing and mating with humans. Their blood lines became diluted and such came the birth of modern day mutants.”

She simply received questioning looks from the other two women. “I read a lot about mythology when I was little.” Was the only explanation she offered before exiting the kitchen and rushing out the front door.

 

 

 


	2. The Black Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce has a decision to make and Melany wonders if cleaning her eyes with bleach would really be that bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Am I updating again? Yes, yes I am. Also I know nothing about bioengineering or most sciences so I'm pulling a lot of this out of my ass. Sorry about that.

Bruce rarely left the tower. He knew he needed to get out more and was embarrassed to admit how infrequent his trips outside were. When he grabbed lunch for him and Tony he would go to the fourth floor where the food court was or they would order something and he would go to the lobby. That was the extent of his travels most of the time, aside from when he went upstairs to sleep in his apartment, which also wasn't very often.

“Here you go boys.” Came a feminine voice followed by the door clicking shut and the sound of shoes squeaking on the floor.

The messy haired scientist looked up to see Tony’s soulmate approaching them. She had a basket of food, some of it still steaming.

“Have I ever told you I love you?” Tony groaned excitedly as he jumped up to take the basket from her delicate hands. After carelessly half throwing half setting the basket down on the nearest table Tony pulled the redhead into his arms and planted a big kiss on her.

Envy welled up in Bruce, he was happy for his friend but he longed for someone of his own. He had been alone for so long all he wanted was someone to share his life with. Yet he knew he couldn't, nobody wanted to be with him once they found out who he was. He knew he could never put another person at risk just for his own emotional gain. He had already subjected himself to a life of loneliness, he had no right to think about ever having a life like Tony's.

“Hey, where's my little girl?” Tony asked with a pout as he realized there was no child tagging along behind his love.

“She's with Thor in the hall. You know it's dangerous to have her in the lab.” Cosette replied with a disapproving look.

Instead of an actual reply Tony simply scoffed and headed for the door, leaving Cosette to linger in the lab.

“Bruce? Are you alright?” Suddenly came her voice from right over his shoulder.

The man jumped and whirled around to stare at her, eyes wide. “Cosette! You can't do that? Do you want to get hurt?” He snapped in annoyance in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

“I'm one of the only people that can calm you down, I think I can handle it.” Replied the mother with a smirk.

Bruce simply sighed and ran his hand through his hair as he looked off at nothing.

“I know something is wrong, please let me help. Or let me refer you to someone who will.” She whispered softly as she grabbed the taller man's hand and squeezed, letting her concern and warmth flood through his body.

For a minute the older man relaxed, his body slumping a bit as he stopped holding himself so rigidly. “You mean a professional?” He murmured softly as he lifted his eyes to meet hers.

Seeing the sorrow in Bruce's eyes made Cosette want to cry, her friend was hurting and wouldn't let her help. “Please.”

“Who would want to risk their life just to work with me?”

“Well just about everyone.”

“Do you think it would help?”

The broken tone that rang in the man's voice hurt her, he was so sad.

“It wouldn't hurt.” She whispered in reply.

“I'll consider it.”

The two were interrupted by the sound of the lab door banging open followed by loud squealing. “Bruce!” Came a child's voice.

The man put a smile on his face and leaned down to catch the child that was running towards him. “Hey Lil, aren't you supposed to be outside?” He asked as he bounced the child on his hip.

“That's right! We have a no children in the lab rule don't we?” Cosette said with feigned shock and surprise as she put her hand to her face in mock confusion.

“She wouldn't take no for an answer.” Tony mumbled as he avoiding looking at the woman who was now giving him a death glare.

“Come on, honey.” The mother said as she reached over to take the child from Bruce's arms.

He felt ten times colder without the warmth of the child and all he wanted to do was take her back. No, what he really wanted was a family of his own, but monsters didn't get happy endings.

* * *

“You wrote that down right?”

Apparently being a paid intern meant simply following around whatever scientist picked her that day and writing down everything they said. It actually made her miss sitting through lectures.

“Yes, sir.” She hummed as she followed closely behind Dr. Bronwyn.

“Good, I think it'll work.” He said appreciatively to himself.

Melany decided to keep her mouth shut about the fact that he would need several more drops of fluoride in order to make his experiment work. He could figure that out on his own.

As she followed the arrogant older man around her mind whirled with thoughts of her own thesis. She had been given a grant to work on it and that's what she was supposed to be doing in an hour, every Wednesday she had several hours to work on it and every Thursday she had a full day to work on it. She was welcome to come in on the weekends but she couldn't bring herself to sacrifice what little time for herself she had.

When she was younger she had scraped her calf after falling off her scooter, the crying child had requested a bandaid but instead her father had laid an egg membrane over the wound. It had healed within three days. When she was trying to scrounge up ideas for her thesis and research project she had been reading article after article about the life saving work of on Dr. Cho. In an energy induced haze she wrote about the properties of egg membrane for healing purposes and somehow she caught the eye of the Stark Scholarship foundation.

Here she was, trying to find a way to bioengineer artificial egg membranes and apply them to the practical world of medicine. Once she figured out how to do that her first idea was to reconstruct a bandaid, to replace the old fashioned gauze pad with a modified membrane. So far she had come up with multiple ideas on how to create these artificial egg membranes but hadn't had lab time to test her ideas.

* * *

_“Matilda! You may not go outside!” Ordered the girls angry and dirty mother._

_“I wish to play.” Replied the blonde little girl as she looked up at the woman who stirred a dirty pot of stew over the fire._

_“There is plague outside, child. Play in here.”_

_And the child did, until her mother fell asleep, then she stepped outside to explore. The smell of death and rot filled her nose as soon as she stepped outside of their shanty house. Rats roamed the streets and bodies sat piled high on the corners. As a rat ran past her she watched a flea jump from the rat to land on her arm, curiously the child watched as the flea bit her then promptly seized up and dropped to the ground dead._

_“Child! What are ye doin out here? It is much too dangerous! Get back to yer home!” Shouted a man who lugged a large sled of bodies to the corner._

_The child stared wide eyed at the bodies before running off back to the safety of her home. The child lived till twenty four before dying of suffocation when the only horse left in town collapsed dead right onto the girl. The townspeople said she had lived a full life._

* * *

_"_ Do you ever worry about the bubonic plague coming back?” Adrianna asked as she and her new friend sat down to lunch.

Melany laughed in response before responding, “We have better healthcare now and the world is generally a cleaner space.”

Adrianna considered this for a minute before shrugging, “True, but what about if scientists were experimenting on it and accidentally created a super virus?”

“Have you been playing Plague inc on your breaks? What's up with this new sense of doom? ”

“What's that?”

“It's a game where you create a super virus and unleash it onto the world and try to destroy humanity.”

“I'm downloading it now.” Was the older womans reply as she whipped out her phone.

Melany chuckled and leaned back in her seat to get a better view of the cafeteria, she look around and found her eyes landing on a messy haired man. He was standing by the coffee bar nervously awaiting his drink. She smiled to herself as she studied the disheveled man, he was nervous, constantly fiddling with his hands. He had an air of importance to him despite the fact that he kept trying to make himself look smaller, keeping himself hunched over and keeping his eyes on the floor.

“Bruce!” Called the barista as she sat two drinks down onto the counter.

The man mumbled a thank you before grabbing the drinks and taking off.

Melany found herself intrigued by the scientist, Bruce was an interesting name, it wasn't one you heard very often.

“Poor guy.” Adrianna hummed as she watched the doctor exit the room.

“What?” Melany asked as she was brought out of her day dream.

“Dr. Banner. Everybody is afraid to go near him. It must get lonely.” Mused the older woman before she took a bite of her chicken wrap.

“That was the hulk?” Disbelief clouded the blonde woman's voice as she pulled a face.

“Yep.”

Now Melany found herself trying to think of the video clips she had seen of the Hulk, as she stuffed her veggie wrap in her face she tried to picture him becoming the Hulk and just couldn't. He seemed so shy and those eyes, when she had seen those eyes she just wanted to hold him, those soft brown eyes that held lifetimes of sadness.

* * *

“Hey thanks!” Susie said as she hip bumped her housemate.

“For what?”

“I passed my test due to your endless knowledge about history that nobody cares about.” Was the southern girls explanation.

Melany held her tongue, the comment offending her. “No problem.” She mumbled before turning on her heel and heading into her room.

The room was oddly shaped, square aside from a slight rectangular bump out where the window was, so to save space in the small room that was where the girls had set up their bunk bed. On the wall to the right of the bed Melany had her desk set up, her notes and school books scattered all over the top of the table. Her roommate chose not to have a desk as all of her work she kept on her computer. The girls shared a bookcase on the left side of the bed. The room was decorated with a tapestry that hung from the ceiling that featured a map of the constellations. The border of the room had fairy lights and tulle strung up in a way that almost mimicked clouds. Their bed had lights and faux garlands strung through all the bars on it. It was definitely the room of two twenty some year olds.

Melany pulled the closet door open so she could get to her dresser and grab her pajamas. Instead she was met with a large shiny black humanoid shape hanging in the closet.

Lillian came running after hearing her roommates shrill shriek. “What's wrong? Are you hurt?” She asked as she looked around the room trying to find the culprit of her roommates fear.

“What is that?” Melany asked, her chest heaving as she pointed to the closet.

“Oh my god, I thought you were hurt don't scare me like that!” Lillian scolded as she crossed her arms and glared at her friend.

“Scare you? SCARE YOU?” Shouted the blonde as she helplessly gestured to the closet. “YOU PUT THAT THING IN MY SIDE OF THE CLOSET AND ARE MAD THAT I SCARED YOU?”

“Hey, calm down, you don't need to yell.” Replied the girl with the shaved head. “It's just a gimp suit.”

“A gimp suit? Oh dear lord,” started the confused blonde, “You know what? I don't even want to know. Please, just move it.”

“Don't know what the big deal is.” Lillian mumbled under her breath as she yanked down the suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is always loved!


	3. Some Day Love Will Find You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melany wonders when exactly she became a taxi service.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly from Bruce's POV!

“No, I’m not going to make a mind control serum just so you can get out of your Saturday test.” Melany murmured into the phone that she was balancing between her ear and her shoulder. Her hands were currently full of books and papers that her boss had specifically requested in perfect order by date. She had spent over an hour in the file room pulling everything she needed and then another hour organizing them.

As Lillian continued babbling about how mind control really wasn't _that_ bad Melany found herself zoning out, just trying to get back to her boss’ office in one piece. However that didn't seem to be in her cards today, her feathery bangs had gone too long without a trim and kept falling into her eyes. She kept blowing them out of her eyes but they refused to stay, so she made a calculated risk and carefully balanced everything she was holding in one arm and used the other to push her bangs out of the way.

As she moved to wrap her arm around her workload once more she bumped into someone and everything went flying.

“Oh no, oh no, no, no, no.” She hissed lowly as all of the paper landed on the floor, the paper clips she had been using to hold them together coming loose and causing all of her organization to fly out the window. Her phone had fallen to the floor, a crack now boasting itself on the screen, she could now hear Lillian's far away voice asking if she was okay.

“Oh god,” came the startled voice of the person she had bumped into.

Melany dropped to her knees in the middle of the hallway to begin collecting the papers, hoping they were still somehow in order. She vaguely recognized the sound of the person she had bumped into also dropping to the floor and attempting to help her collect the papers. She decidedly ignored them, too worried about her papers and knowing that if she acknowledged them she would either cry or yell.

It wasn't until her hand bumped into a larger weathered hand that she looked up, their hands lingered on each other's and she felt electricity course through her. The words messily scrawled along the back of her left thigh pulsating as she stared wide eyed at the familiar rumpled scientist.

“I won't hurt you, I promise.” Bruce blurted after bumping into a shocked looking girl. Her eyes were wide and he worried that it was because she knew who he was.

“I'm not scared.” Was her sweet reply. Three simple words that had kept Bruce sane. Three words scrawled across his right bicep that he stared at every night before he fell asleep. Three words that had gotten him through the toughest times, reminding him that somebody out there was supposed to care about him. But as he looked into the girl's wide golden eyes he found himself holding back, he decided he couldn't burden her with all of his problems so he refrained from pointing out that they were soulmates.

Faintly Melany could hear her friend start talking again, having apparently gone silent to listen to the exchange.

_“Holy shit did you just-”_

“But, uh, I really need to get these papers reorganized in order by date and onto my boss’s desk within the next fifteen minutes.” Melany said louder than necessary in order to muffle the sound of her best friends freak out.

“I'm so sorry.” Bruce apologized as he awkwardly handed her back her papers, this time being very careful not to touch hands with her.

She gave him a soft smile as she collected the papers and picked up her now cracked phone before power walking off in the direction she had originally been headed.

* * *

It had been six weeks since Bruce had first laid eyes on Melany, and only two since discovered she was his soulmate. Within the last few weeks Bruce had seen the cute assistant, no, intern as he had recently discovered, a total of nine times. Some of them coincidental, some of them carefully planned by Tony. However the scientist carried on pretending that he didn't know what his friend was doing as he liked getting to see his soulmate, even if it was from a distance. He also kept the fact that she was his soulmate to himself, as he didn't want to deal with Tony's teasing, and he didn't need to hear about how he should just go for it.

  
Despite the fact that his girlfriend told him he shouldn't meddle in Bruce's life Tony couldn't stop himself, if he didn't meddle then Bruce would never get anything done. Since discovering of his friends crush on the woman Tony had taken it upon himself to research her, even going so far as to read her dissertation and find out exactly what he had given her money to study. Surprisingly he found it to be incredibly interesting, most students were all trying to come up with their own super soldier serum, so reading about her wanting bring accelerated healing to the masses was a breath of fresh air. As far as he could tell, aside from how young she was, this girl would be perfect for Bruce, and at the very least she would be a good way to get the curly haired scientist back on the horse. If only he could get Bruce on board.

On Tuesday Pepper had informed Tony that he and Bruce were to go to a progress conference outside of the city, the conference wasn't until Thursday so she assumed they would have enough warning to actually be able to make it. The conference was for all Stark grant students who were currently working on projects, they were to show up and show what they had accomplished so far. Tony being Tony had forgotten, despite being reminded that morning by Cosette, and despite being reminded that afternoon by JARVIS. Now the event was in an hour and he had again been reminded by JARVIS that he and Bruce were supposed to attend.

“It's casual! Your outfit is fine!” Tony shouted as he vaguely gestured to the man before him.

“Why didn't you tell me before?” Bruce asked as he pinched the bridge of his nose and looked down.

“I kept forgetting.”

Bruce did not like surprises, he did not like stress, he did not like last minute things, and he definitely did not like being surprised and stressed out by last minute plans.

“How are we supposed to get there? A driver won't get here in time to make us on time, a cab won't take us that far, you are not taking the suit, and when was the last time either of us actually drove a car?”

Now Tony had to admit that Bruce had a point. They were essentially screwed, but he had to at least try to be there or Pepper would skin him alive.

“Driving is like riding a bike.” Was the billionaires only answer.

“I’ll drive.”

The ride up to the garage level was quiet as Bruce tried to tame the annoyance bubbling inside of him, he worried that if he didn't get a lid on it that The Other Guy would come out to play. Lately he had been better at controlling him and the two had even somewhat started to work together. The other guy only trying to come out if he thought Bruce was in trouble. So for that reason Bruce tried to keep himself away from stress as often as possible, easier said than done when your bestfriend is Tony Stark.

When they reached the garage they were dismayed to see that all of Tony's personal loaner cars were gone, which meant that they would have to take extra time to go to Tony's private garage and get a car, which meant bringing it down the car lift, which meant they would definitely not be on time.

However the universe seemed to have other plans as a familiar head of blonde waves strolled past them, her head down as she looked at something on her cracked phone.

“Hey! You!” Tony shouted obnoxiously as he pointed a finger at the girl who was most likely doing her best to ignore him.

“Melany!” The billionaire tried, after deciding that using her name might work better.

Her head snapped up as she stopped in her tracks and turned to look at the two.

“You're going to the thing tonight right?” Tony asked, already strolling towards the girl.

“Yes?” She answered weakly, pretty clearly overwhelmed by Tony Stark talking to her.

“Great. You're giving us a ride.” Tony said as he clapped her on the back and looked around for what could be her car.

“What?”

“I'll pay you, you still paying off your car? I'll pay it off for you. We need to get there on time, can you do that?”

Bruce remained silent as he watched the exchange, he wasn't sure if she knew they were soulmates as she had never attempted to seek him out about it. Perhaps she did know and just didn't want to have a monster as a soulmate.

Melany chewed on her red painted lips for a minute before replying, “Yeah. I'm from California. I can handle traffic.”

“Excellent! What car is yours?”

She pointed to a white jeep like car.

“That car looks like it's older than you.” Tony exclaimed in mild disgust as he walked towards the car.

The blonde grumbled something under her breath in a language Bruce couldn't understand before speaking up, “If you want a ride in my car you will respect my car.”

The only reply she got was a mumbled “you're no fun.”

The group clambered into the car, Bruce in the front, Tony in the back, mostly because Tony had shot Bruce a cheeky smirk before claiming the back seat. Bruce told himself he didn't put up a fight because he was trying to save the girl from Tony, but he knew it was bullshit.

“Your car is really clean, not what I'd expect from a struggling college student.” Came Tony's bemused voice from the back seat.

“Just because 80% of my meals are ramen doesn't mean I'm a heathen.” The girl chuckled as she stuck the key in the ignition.

Bruce was startled out of his thoughts as the car shook and loud music poured from the speakers.

“Is this love, daddy? Is this love? Why don't you love me daddy? Why don't you love me daddy? Why don't you, why don't you love me daddy?”

Melany yelled in surprise as she dove for her ipod in an attempt to turn the music off, in her haste she knocked the iPod off the stand on her air vent and it fell to the floor.

For a moment she just sat in a heap, a loud groan erupting from her throat as she gave into her situation and accepted her fate. She was brought out of her mild self loathing by a soft tap on her shoulder that sent sparks through her body. The woman looked up to see Bruce sheepishly handing her the iPod.

“Please don't change the song.” Tony chirped from the backseat, a Cheshire grin on his face.

Deciding to just admit defeat instead of changing the song she set her iPod back into its holder and maneuvered out of the parking garage. As they made it onto the street the song thankfully changed.

As she settled into the familiar routine of driving she forgot there were other people in the car and began to hum along. She had her window rolled down with one arm resting slightly out of it, the other firmly holding onto the steering wheel.

Bruce couldn't help but notice her mindlessly fiddling with a ring on the hand she had out the window, she wore it on her middle finger and from what he could tell it was a simple silver ring with an inscription he couldn't read. For some reason the ring perplexed him, though he couldn't put his finger on it.

 _“Her face was so mangled, it didn't even look human anymore.”_ A fuzzy voice hummed through the speakers, the drums slowly picking up as the song continued.

“Sorry, probably not a good song to play around y’all.” She mumbled sheepishly as she went to change songs.

“You have forty seven minutes to get us there in time. I don't care what you play.” Tony said casually from the back seat.

For several more minutes the group stayed silent, simply enjoying the drive and the music. Tony finding himself impressed with the girls vast selection of music, not that he liked all of what he had heard but it was definitely interesting. Bruce found himself staring at the girl more than he should. The sun hung low in the sky, illuminating her from the side, her wild blonde hair glowing and in this light he could see the freckles that sprawled across her cheeks and nose.

Her eyes were focused on the road as she began to sing along to the song playing, _“Don't want it any other way, it's just your typical, hardcore, casual sex, we’re single but we’re lovers.”_

As she sang Bruce found it hard to take his eyes off of her, he knew he was staring like a creep but he couldn't stop it, every fiber of his being screamed at him, telling him that she was his. He looked at those eyes again, realizing that they weren't just hazel like he had initially thought, near the pupils were large rings of gold, the rest of her eyes being a dark green. They were the most unusual and stunning eyes he had ever seen, he couldn't think of a single person with a pair like hers.

His eyes roamed further downwards to look at her freckled nose, it was turned upwards and slim and was the slightest bit pointy, he thought it made her look kind of like an elf. His eyes settled on her lips, they were almost swollen, nearly too large for her face, round and plump with a soft curve for a Cupid's bow. Her lips might be his favorite part of her, they were stained a dark glossy red in the middle that slowly bled into the rest of her lips, it looked as though she had been eating a popsicle.

That thought went straight to Bruce's groin, a dark hum of approval coming from the back of his mind. He wanted to look away, he knew he should look away, but watching her lips move as she sang along was downright obscene.

_“It's like a bolt of lightning hits me in my chest right out of the blue, every time I see you.”_

He was mesmerized.

_“You're like a wreck out on the highway, I can't look away.”_

Song lyrics had never sounded better or rang more true than those did as they spilled from her lips. 

He was pulled out of his reprieve by his phone vibrating in his pocket, sending a jolt through parts of him that had suddenly become a little more sensitive after watching her.

‘You look like a pervert. Stop staring.’

Bruce's eyes narrowed as he read the text from Tony, but before he could reply he was jolted forward as Melany slammed on the breaks.

Her horn blared for a second before she let her hand up. The man in the Nissan that had nearly hit them began yelling at her.

“You had a stop sign you absolute dickwad! I didn't! You broke the fucking law and you have the nerve to yell at me? I'll fucking remember that 3HUA172.”

The man had gone from angry to looking absolutely horrified, so he simply backed up and waved her forward weakly.

“Everyone who drives a Nissan is a fucking dick, it's a proven fact and all California drivers are fucking dicks.” She mumbled under her breath as she sped past the frazzled man.

“Including you.” Tony added helpfully.

“Including me.” She said with a small smile.

Bruce simply chuckled under his breath.

“Hey Siri? Play Love You by Kevin Gates.”

“You still have an iPhone?” Came Tony's distraught voice from the backseat, he sounded as though he had just had a knife plunged into his stomach.

“Can't afford a Stark phone they're a little expensive.” She hummed teasingly as she sped up again.

Bruce risked looking at the speedometer only to gulp as he saw she was going 85 in what he had noticed was a 65.

“Now you're asking yourself who's gonna love you?” Melany sang quietly as she tried to tone out Tony's whining from the backseat. “I got a heart that's full of love with so much love to give. I often picture us together married with some kids”

Bruce felt Tony nudge the back of his seat and knew the only thing keeping him from threatening Tony with a code green was the angel sitting beside him.

The fact that Bruce didn't recognize _any_ of the songs that the girl was playing made him feel incredibly old.

“So are you single?” Tony chirped casually.

Bruce had never wanted to kill someone more.

* * *

_“This ring will follow you to the ends of the galaxy.” Explained Eileithyia as she slid the oversized ring onto the child's finger. Before their eyes the ring shrank down to size, magically fitting itself to the child's stubby fingers._

_“No matter where you go, or how many life cycles you go through without us, we will always love you.” Her father explained with a smile._

_For a moment little Melpomene stared at the inscription, trying to figure out what it said. “Love will always find you.” The child read, a large smile spreading across her face as she looked up at her parents._

_“The ring is enchanted,” her mother explained, “it will always find you. No matter where you go.”_

* * *

Somehow the group had managed to get to the event in only 39 minutes and without killing each other. After exiting the car Bruce thanked Melany and Tony patted her on the head and said he’d be seeing her, then the group went their separate ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need feedback, I'll die without it.


	4. Gender Studies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time flies when you're avoiding confrontation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it's me again. I'm sorry I keep disappearing. The end of this chapter gets a bit cheeky, hehe that's kind of a pun.

Melany considered herself lucky when it came to the human family she had. Her father was kind and funny, his smile reminding her of her actual fathers. Her mother had been lovely up until her death where she was replaced with a woman named Sarah who could only be equated to a wicked stepmother.

When she had arrived at the progress convention with Tony and Bruce she had expected Lillian to be there but not her parents. They had apparently decided to surprise her by flying out and visiting her to support her work, or that was her father’s reasoning. After explaining her research to Sarah she found herself exhausted by the woman's negativity, the woman stayed home and played on Pinterest all day and here she was criticizing science she couldn't even pronounce.

Lillian just stood beside her friends parents with a sympathetic smile on her face, which quickly morphed into a look of disgust as Sarah asked why Lillian had cut all of her beautiful hair off.

“ _Sarah_!” Melany shouted a little too harshly judging by the stunned look the woman gave her. “Your purse is really cute, where'd you get it?” It was forced and Melany really didn't think the bag was cute but she wanted to protect her friend from the woman's harsh criticism. It had been a half assed save but had worked as the woman launched into a description about the terrible experience she had gone through to get the hideous bag.

* * *

“We should go rescue her.” Tony hummed quietly to Bruce as he pretended to act interested in the random contraption they stood in front of.

“No, Tony, that would be weird. We’d come off as stalkers.” The frazzled scientist harshly whispered back as he shot his friend a disapproving glare.

The billionaire simply shrugged and rubbed his goatee in thought, he wanted to respect what his friend was saying but at the same time he knew Bruce enjoyed being in the girl's presence. So against all rational thoughts he made his way over to the girl's little group, dragging a protesting Bruce behind him.

“Miss Albern!” He shouted, a relaxed grin on his face as he waved to the now confused group of people.

“Do I know you?” Sarah asked, a snotty look on her face as she appraised the man in front of her.

“I was actually speaking to your daughter.” Tony replied smoothly.

“She's not mine.” The woman snapped. Bruce and Tony simply blinked, taken aback by the woman's rudeness.

Bruce could faintly hear the two girls whispering to each other from slightly behind the girl's parents.

“You know _Tony Stark_?” The bald girl aggressively whispered to her friend.

“Not really, no. But, Christ, if he's gonna be here too I'm really gonna need to smoke a blunt or some shit. I already have a fucking headache.” Melany whined to her friend, a hand reaching up to gently stroke her temple.

“I brought you your favorite from Starbs, a venti iced vanilla chai. It's laced.” At this admission the girl held up a Starbucks cup, a cheeky smile on her face.

“Where the fuck were you hiding that? You know what? I don't care, god bless you.”

The conversation was endlessly amusing to Bruce, the amount of cuss words slipping from the girl's mouth was surprising but somehow adorable, for a minute he wondered what laced meant but decided he didn't need to know. He offered the girl a sympathetic smile as Sarah quickly realized who Tony was and started fawning over the man.

“I’m Edward Albern, Melany’s father.” Stated the graying man as he stepped away from his wife's side and reached his hand out for Bruce to shake.

“Dr. Bruce Banner.” Bruce was always nervous when introducing himself, his name carried a heavy weight and often scared people out of shaking his hand. Surprisingly Edward simply nodded and shook the man's hand, a kind smile on his face.

“You're one of the people overseeing the grants right?”

“That's correct. Your daughter's research is incredibly interesting, Tony and I both have taken quite the interest in it.” Bruce said with a small smile.

Edward chuckled, reaching out to clap his daughter on the back. “I’m very proud.”

Melany had already sucked down half of the large drink that she had been handled, spluttering slightly as her father's hand came down on her back. She awkwardly coughed to clear her throat before shooting her dad a scolding look. “ _Dad_.”

“We’re all very proud.” Lillian said, a sweet smirk on her face as she batted her eyelashes at her friend.

“The new hair looks good on you.” Edward said, reaching out to ruffle the girl's stubbly head.

“Thanks, dad.” Lillian had grown up with only her grandmother to raise her, she lived just down the street from Melany when they were little and the two had been friends ever since meeting when their bikes collided on the street. Melany's family was her family.

* * *

“I need to write a paper for my gender studies class.” Lillian groaned as she threw herself backwards onto her bed.

“Being a boy sucks. Write about that.” Melany said casually as she lounged in her room with Lillian. She had gotten a full day off, something that never happened and was cherishing every minute of it.

“I think it would be cool.” The girl said with a shrug.

“You just want to be able to pee standing up.” The blonde said with a short.

“Not all boys have dicks.” Lillian gave her roommate a scolding frown.

Melany smiled sheepishly, she on occasion forgot her roommate was non-binary, choosing to use She and They pronouns. “You're right, my bad, but I've been a boy with a dick and it was weird.”

“Does that have something to do with your thousand lives thing?” The girl asked, boredom in her voice.

“Yep. Typically for the first few life cycles you hop genders, to see what you feel comfortable as. My species is technically genderless as we can change every life cycle. I just found that I prefer being a girl.” Melany explained casually. She had broken down and told Lillian after one too many glasses of wine and one too many questions about how she knew so many random facts.

“You probably were just a guy at the wrong time.”

“See, that's what I thought, because on earth men are the dominant gender so I wondered if I had just done it wrong. ‘Cause being the dominant gender should be cool right? So I tried again as a man in the 70s. From what I remember it was alright but it didn't feel like me. I think I died of a cocaine overdose.”

“Are there any people from your, ah, species that have switched genders and stayed?” Lillian found the subject to be suddenly interesting, an entire species that remained a majority genderfluid throughout their lives. A species where realizing the gender you were born with wasn't the gender you were and that being widely accepted was something that amazed her.

“My mother,” Was her immediate answer, but she paused after saying it, the sadness of losing her mother and never being able to see her again made her ache. “My older brother as well.”

“Do you ever get to see you family?”

“I see my human family quite frequently, my other family only on occasion. It usually takes a few hundred years for us to be in the same place again.” She attempted to mask her sadness with a rueful smile.

“How can you tell them apart from other people?” Lillian always wondered how Melany had a knack for finding her species when they were out and about.

“Our eyes, they're not like normal humans eyes. We’re actually the cause of what's known as Central Heterochromia. Children from our species will have mild cases of it but it's more extreme with the originals.”

“I'm sorry.”

Melany shrugged and began to fiddle with the ring on her finger as she always did when she thought of her family. Her mother had died for good, she would never start another life cycle. The only way the species of the Shadow Faye could die was if they died in their raw state, the giant shadowy monster state. Their realm had been covered in shadows, which was perfect, for if they were ever in their raw state they would quickly perish in the light. Any other death was simply the beginning of another life cycle.

What a cruel and vicious cycle it was. They lived full lives, fell in love, and even had children, just to die and never see their family again. The only time they saw their loved ones again was if they met their soulmate, then they would be rebirthed near each other and thus start a life cycle together.

Melany’s soulmate was a human, a mutant but a human nonetheless. When he died her life cycle would go on, until hundreds of years from now another phrase appeared on her. Many people of her species would decide to end their own lives after their soulmate passed, not wanting to get another to replace their original. However if a bond had been strong enough, on occasion a human soul would be reincarnated into another human body, allowing them to meet their soulmate again.

After her mother's death her father had stayed, he had kept going with his life cycles, still walking around on earth to this day. Melany knew he had only stayed for her, not wanting her to grow up completely alone, even if he only got to see her every few centuries.

“Hey!” Lillian shouted, bringing Melany out of her thoughts.

“What?”

“Do you think it would be cool for me to write about that for my gender studies class? I mean it's in mythology books and stuff, right?”

Melany could see the excitement in Lillian's eyes not to mention how the girl was practically vibrating from it.

“Go for it, also, pass me the bong please I'm going to try to forget about work.”

Lillian snorted and handed the girl the lime green glass elephant bong the two had invested in together. It had been their “thank god we’re adults” present to themselves.

“So, Dr. Banner.” Lillian started casually, her alert brown eyes focusing on her friend.

This elicited a groan from the blonde, who instead of answering the question proceeded to take a long hit. “I said I wanted to forget about work.” She said, smoking pouring from her mouth.

“Your soulmate is work?”

“How? How do you know everything?”

“I was on the phone remember? I recognized his voice, plus I saw how he stared at you.”

“It wouldn't work.”

“Why? Is it because he's almost your dads age? Because technically aren't you older than him?”

Melany simple groaned in response and spun around in her desk chair to face her laptop. Continuing to ignore her friend she plugged her headphones into the computer and proceeded to start some work on her thesis.

* * *

Bruce had made up his mind, he would never tell Melany that he was her soulmate, however if she asked he would admit it but tell her exactly why he couldn't be with her. She also happened to be nearly half his age, something that worried him as he was probably nearly as old as her father: He had been seeing her a lot lately, Tony often inviting the girl to their private lab to ask for her opinion on certain things. Bruce knew it wasn't necessary, Tony knew it wasn't necessary, and Melany knew it wasn't necessary but they all played ignorant.

Today he was in the lab alone and while he enjoyed the solitude he found his mind wandering to a certain girl with wide green eyes. No, they weren't just green, Tony had asked her about it and she had explained she had Central Heterochromia, however Bruce was suspicious. He had seen heterochromia before and yet he had never seen a pair of eyes like hers. Where the gold was so golden, not brown at all, just a pure golden, like honey. It was odd to say the least, but Bruce found it to be something he liked about her.

He was brought out of his thoughts to hear cursing outside of the door, the melodic voice was all too familiar. His chest felt as though it was going to explode, he worried when he was around her without Tony as a barrier.

“Jarvis, just let me in.” Melany whined, the basket of muffins she was holding was absolutely massive and if she didn't set it down soon she was bound to start losing them.

“My apologies, Miss Albern, you are not permitted into this lab without an escort.” Rang the voice of the AI.

Cosette had gotten in on Tony's scheming and had since taken the girl somewhat under her wing, often sending her home with food and ensuring the girl ate something other than ramen. Today she had given Melany a huge basket of homemade muffins telling her to bring some to the lab for Bruce, explaining that she worried about the man.

Melany hadn’t minded Cosette’s mothering one bit, the woman reminded her of her own mother, her real mother. She understood why the woman worried about Bruce, as she found herself worrying about the man too. She knew he kept himself isolated to the labs, Tony often murmuring his concerns to the girl. For some reason they trusted her, she didn't quite understand but the companionship and mentorship was nice. Plus, she got to spend time with her soulmate, a fact she hadn't quite come to terms with.

It was hard to believe that after centuries and centuries her soulmate was here with her, he was real, and he was a superhero. She couldn't quite wrap her head around it, so she hadn't brought it up to him, yet. She wondered if she would ever get the courage to, then realized that was a stupid thought, of course she would get the courage to, she had to.

Bruce sighed as he stood up, having every intention of going to open the lab door for the girl, then he heard Thor’s voice from outside the door.

“Do I know you?” The god asked, confusion ringing in his voice as he stared at the girl, head cocked.

Melany froze, he did in fact know her but he didn't know this body, however if he saw her eyes he would know, so she hid behind the muffins. “Ah, no I don't think so. I've never met a god before.” She tacked on a careless giggle, hoping the flattery would make the god forget about his original question.

“Thor! Come on! We have to go to the donut place!”

Melany hadn't noticed the child before but she definitely did now, the child stood by the gods size, his giant hand encompassing her tiny one. Despite the mothering from Cosette she had yet to meet the woman's daughter, she chalked it up to the mother wanting to protect her daughter. After all, if just anyone could go near what was essentially Tony Stark’s child it would be dangerous for the little one. Though, she was probably in the safest spot she could be, tucked by the gods side.

“My apologies then.” Thor said, nodding before continuing on his way.

Melany sighed in relief, readjusting her hold on the large basket of muffins. She could hear the lab door finally opening just as she felt a muffin start to topple. “Shit!” She whined, waiting to hear the sound of the muffin hitting the floor, instead hearing a chuckle.

“Lose something?” Bruce's teasing voice came, which led Melany to believe that he had caught said muffin.

“Took you long enough.” She grumbled, pushing past him to head for the nearest table.  
  
Melany had dressed casually today, as there would be no lab work today. She wore a flowing pink skirt that was probably a little shorter than was work appropriate and a soft blue sweater. When she leaned over to set the muffins down her skirt rode up, giving Bruce a lovely view of the words scrawled across the back of her thigh. He knew he shouldn't be looking, this girl was nearly half his age and much too innocent to deal with his demons but he couldn't tear his eyes away. This was torture, for some reason the girl stayed bent over the table, slowly arranging the muffins to perfection. Bruce's hands ached to feel her skin, to caress the words on her leg, to claim her as his, but instead of doing any of these things he stayed glued in his spot, eyes wide.

“Cosette sent these down for you, also, she sent down the notes that Tony wrote down last night. Apparently he keeps a notebook beside his bed so he can wake up in the middle of the night and write down whatever weird ideas he has.” Melany turned around, a few loose papers in her hand. Bruce's face flushed as he worried he had been caught, his breathing had a slight hitch to it.

The blonde cocked her head in confusion, a worried look on her face. “Are you alright? You're breathing weird and your face is red.”

Bruce froze, he wasn't a good liar, he had no idea how to explain why he was like this. “Uh, yeah, I just, was ah, thinking.” It was a lame excuse and it didn't quite make sense but it was the only thing he could come up with.

“You sure?” Melany stepped towards Bruce, causing the man to freeze. Worry laced her tone as she reached out and gently pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. “You're warm.”

“There has been a virus going around, perhaps Dr. Banner has caught it. Scanning vitals now.” Jarvis interrupted.

Bruce sighed in relief, at least the AI could lie. Then his eyes widened with worry as he wondered exactly what Jarvis would find when scanning his vitals.

“Dr. Banner has an elevated heart rate and a higher bodily temperature than is normal, I would suggest going to see Dr Tremaine.”

“Thanks, Jarvis. I'll be fine.” Bruce mumbled, thankful that Tony had programmed the AI with tact.

“Do you want me to make you tea or something?” Melany was worried about the man, he was acting oddly, he was always a little weird but now he was being extra weird.

“Yes, thank you that would be wonderful.” He sighed and moved to take a seat back at his work table.

His eyes watched as the girl made her way over to the kitchenette and began making tea. For some reason Tony insisted on keeping the mugs on the bottom shelf, which everyone but Tony complained about and now Bruce could understand why he did it. Often Cosette would hang out in the lab and make Tony coffee or tea, and to get to the mugs one had to bend over. As Melany was doing right now, her skirt had nearly come up all the way, causing Bruce to let out a low groan which thankfully he thought went unnoticed by her.

* * *

Melany knew her skirt was up and if Bruce's groan was an indication of what it was doing to him she wasn't sure she wanted to fix it. Her body ached for his touch, and she knew her mark was on full display right now.

“Do you have a specific mug you like?” She asked, her voice slightly husky as a chill ran through her, she could feel his eyes on her.

“No.” His voice was strained as he leaned back in his seat attempting to disguise the growing bulge in his pants. It was as if she was doing this on purpose.

“Okay.” She grabbed a random mug and continued to make the tea, popping the cup in the microwave to warm the water before perching on the counter and facing Bruce. The two sat in their respective spots simply staring at each other, their eyes hungrily roving over each other until finally meeting. The microwave beeped, and neither of them moved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say a quick thank you for ALL the feedback on this series! You're all amazing and I am so thankful for each and every one of you.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave feedback! It inspires me to keep going and just generally makes me happy.


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